Former Metropolitan Police Service Officer Wayne Couzens was sentenced to life in jail Thursday for kidnapping Sarah Everard as she was walking on a London street before later raping and murdering her.

Everard, 33, was walking home when Couzens used his police identification and handcuffs to falsely arrest and abduct Everard. Prosecutors stated that Couzens used the pretext that Everard had broken COVID-19 lockdown laws to deceive her into getting into his car. Couzens pled guilty to the charges of abduction, rape, and murder.

Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life prison term, meaning that he will never be considered for parole. The UK parliament abolished the death penalty more than 50 years ago, so “whole-life orders” are generally imposed if the seriousness of the crime is exceptionally high.

Lord Justice Adrian Fulford stated that Everard was a “blameless victim of a grotesquely executed series of offenses.” Lord Justice Fulford explained that Couzens’ acts eroded public confidence in the police. “I have not the slightest doubt that the defendant used his position as a police officer to coerce her on a wholly false pretext into the car he had hired for this purpose,” Fulford said in sentencing remarks.

“Nothing can make things better, nothing can bring Sarah back, but knowing he will be imprisoned forever brings some relief,” Everard’s family said in a statement.